1 This is the itinerary the Israelites followed as they marched out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the LORD'S direction, Moses kept a written record of their progress. These are the stages of their march, identified by the different places they stopped along the way. NLT
Over the past year I have been challenged by a friend and mentor to order and manage my daily scheduling. To this effect, I hoped for better organization in my life and ultimately a stable way of seeking purpose God brings to me each day. I'm sure most of us have agenda's and can't live without them. It is as though our lives need order and management; namely with our jobs, family, hobbies....but what about our management with God? As I read verse 2,
"At the LORD'S direction, Moses kept a written record of their progress. These are the stages of their march, identified by the different places they stopped along the way"
I see an incredible opening, not only for the purpose of leading into the account of Israel's incredible journey which follows, but also an opening with the purpose of manifesting the idea of how important it is for all of us to record the many stages of our lives and the places we stop along the way as well! We can see if we read on that the list contains 40 places in all, all within the same journey; and so it should be the same for us: to keep a record of the events of our lives, our journey. With this objective in mind, many are probably thinking - "I already have an agenda" and "I am already very organized" - yet, I would like to touch on the question I left earlier: "what about our management with God?" I'm not saying to record everything like you would a day to day agenda, but it helps to have and keep a 'journal' or 'diary' (whatever you want to call it) for the purpose of recording the progress of our lives alongside the path of our spiritual growth.
We have an example from this excerpt of a record of travel; however, so much more can be recorded and is intended for us to record for the sake of recapitulation of the Holy Spirit's continual intercession in our lives. We can record prayer items, ambitions, times of extravagant joy....just about anything. This is just one form of practice primarily to exhilarate the depth in our relationship with our heavenly Father and his Son Jesus: to which extent meet us each day with purpose and endless love and hope!
Furthermore, if we have faith and desire to seek out this disciple, we will receive many blessings. Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him".
In conclusion, I see Numbers 33:1-2 teaching us an important lesson. "[With] the Lord's direction, [we should keep] a written record of [our] progress". It is my hope that with this discernment we can write and reflect upon what God is doing in our lives and the direction God is pointing us in each day, week, month. I leave with Psalms 16:9...
"Because of this my heart is glad, and my glory is full of joy: while my flesh takes its rest in hope".
Good thought Zac. I often wonder what things will be like in the future. We have so many written journals from great men that help us in our walk. John Calvin and Martin Luther were two men who left us very important thoughts and ideas as they 'journaled' their way through life.
ReplyDeleteSo much is lost now that we have the internet. Much of our printed thoughts have now become solely internet based (this blog for example....), however, my hope is that we'll be able to use the internet and printed form to record our journey with God, so that we can reflect on how God has worked in our lives. What an encouragement that can, and will, be!
Thanks for posting this, it certainly had an impact on me today (and I hope will continue to impact me this week, month, year and years to come!)